Las Vegas' high rollers -- er, ballers

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One thing that Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy prides himself on is his ability to scout. So as DeCourcy traveled around Las Vegas this past weekend—covering 182 rental-car miles and four separate tournaments—seven players caught his eye. You want future college standouts? You've come to the right place.

North Carolina seems like it could use a little good news about now, and Pinson provides another dose every time he steps on a basketball court in public.

Committed to the Tar Heels since May, Pinson is a dynamic bundle of diverse talents who looks to be equipped to be an immediate starter at a program that hasn’t had a ton of luck with even its best wing recruits of late. Harrison Barnes drifted, Reggie Bullock bolted and P.J. Hairston—well, he drove, and we’re not talking about layups.

The beauty of Pinson’s offensive game is that it is not limited to any one particular area of the court. He is more of a straight-line driver than a shake-bake-and-break-you-down ballhandler, but he can excel under this circumstance because he is capable of stopping to fire a relatively unblockable high-release pull-up jumper. He has 3-point range, although he’ll have to continue working on this area. Pinson made 32 percent of his 3-pointers in the EYBL regular season, then at the Peach Jam led the event in scoring primarily because he attempted more free throws than anyone and converted more than 90 percent.

To star at small forward as a pro with the lean frame he carries, Pinson would need to be about three inches taller than he is—like, for instance, Kevin Durant. But Pinson is quick enough that he can play shooting guard, even at the college level were Carolina to wind up with another recruit of Barnes’ stature, for instance. He certainly can handle—and cause problems—for college 3-men.

In today’s game, there’s not much more useful than a power forward who can step out and hit jumpshots, can move his feet defensively on the perimeter and, near the rim, can block shots with authority.

Looney is going to need a lot of work with his upper body strength, but he has great power in his hands and such remarkably quick feet it’s not an issue against high school opponents. It would be against collegians, but spending a summer and fall on campus will get him started in the right direction enough that he’ll make an impact his first season.

Looney echoes a young Kenyon Martin, or maybe a slightly shorter JaJuan Johnson, with his wide shoulders, thin frame and long arms. He doesn’t get off the floor with quite the same immediacy as Martin, one of the quickest jumpers in recent basketball history, but Looney does a terrific job contesting shots around the lane.

What Looney has now that Martin took three years to reach is a level of confidence in his game that should translate to more early career success. Looney knows he’s good. He understands how to impact a game and plays with an infectious brand of energy. A college that knows how to use a versatile power forward and understands how to build a player’s body and game in tandem can both benefit from Looney and send him on to a long career in the game.

Even many of those who admire Hamilton’s talent and rate it highly have been known to sneer about his eagerness to fire shot attempts at the goal.

Perhaps it’s ingrained in anyone who ever played pickup basketball, the idea that anyone who shoots a lot —A gunner! A chucker!—is somehow less of a human being.

Of course, there’s such a thing as proper shot selection, understanding time and score and all that, but we need to remember a player who truly has a knack for making baskets is no different than one with a gift for hitting home runs or gaining rushing yards.

When Hamilton’s brother Jordan played for Texas, he averaged 18.6 points per game, shot 44 percent from the field and made more than 38 percent of his 3-point attempts. Which of those numbers seems problematic? The Longhorns also won 28 games that season, the last time they were genuinely relevant on the national scene.

Daniel, who will play at UConn starting in 2014, is not as physically powerful as Jordan, but he plays considerably harder. Jordan often was criticized as much for his tendency to take plays off as for his compulsion to shoot. Daniel attacks defenders with an urgency that seems almost unfair. He punishes the players who defend him.

Unlike some players who’ll pass up an open shot in the hope it will win them a friend, Daniel Hamilton takes that shot every time with the idea it will help win the game. Ever notice how many times players pass up great shots only to turn over the ball? Hamilton has not, because he refuses to ignore an opportunity.

He will have to learn how his offensive compulsions fit with his role early on at UConn. That was one area his brother did not succeed; he shot nearly as persistently as a 20-minute freshman as he did as a first-option sophomore. So yeah, it is possible for even the most gifted scorers to shoot too often. There’s a time and place for everything.

He only is entering his sophomore season, so Swanigan has lots of time to decide how serious he wants to be about this game.

If the answer is that he wants to go as far in the game as his talent will carry him, he first is going to have to get busy addressing the importance of acquiring a basketball player’s body. He is listed anywhere from 265-280 pounds by the recruiting sites, and it’s not out of the question he could top the highest figure.

However, unlike Joshua Smith, who allowed weight issues to ruin a promising run at UCLA and who now is trying to rescue his career at Georgetown, Swanigan plays the game as though he truly loves it. Smith often went through the motions as a high school player. He was so overwhelmingly skilled even the best college programs were willing to gamble he’d eventually invest in the game. Those who’ll recruit Swanigan over the next three years won’t have those worries.

They are pursuing a player who went at it more or less alone against uber-prospects Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander in Chris Paul’s The Eight tournament, producing 14 points and 8 rebounds as Swanigan’s team, The Family, hung with the Mac Irvin Fire before fading at the end. Swanigan scores in the low post more with muscle and determination than the sort of low-post trickery that was so exciting with Smith, but that power and drive are so valuable in a player. It’s likely Swanigan will be less of a man but more of a baller by the time he’s ready for college.

It seems rather fortunate that Thompson’s summer team, the Arkansas Hawks, plays a full-court pressure style of defense. Because that’s what he’s going to be playing when he joins the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2014.

Thompson is a big guy, not so much muscular as he is powerful. He does not look like a prototypical press-and-run center. But he’s the kind of player who’s great to have around to start breaks with his rebounding and to clean up teammates’ misses around the goal.

Playing against Emmanuel Mudiay’s MWA squad in the Fab 48 event, Thompson did not face a particularly gifted big man. MWA was far more oriented toward Mudiay and shooting guard Malik Newman. But Thompson got the chance to show he still could make a difference in an end-to-end, guard-first affair. He might have been the Hawks’ most important player in an easy pool-play victory.

Thompson told Hawgs Illustrated’s Dudley Dawson back in April he understands the need to improve his body. “I am going to get in the weight room a lot and work out a lot,” Thompson said. To be more than a 20-minute player for the Razorbacks, that will be essential.

Is he a point guard? Perhaps, if Maryland needs him to be. But it’s hard to think of a player Trimble resembles more than Ben Gordon, and Connecticut didn’t try to convert him to the point merely because it seemed he’d need it to be a pro at his size. And, what do you know, he didn’t.

Like Gordon, Trimble is a powerful package at guard, can create his own shot and has a quick, compact release that is consistent and repeatable. Like Gordon, Trimble is a big-game player. Certainly the adidas Fab 48 is not of the quality or consequence of the Final Four, but it’s about the biggest stage Trimble’s had the chance to visit to date. And the result? He scored 22 points to lead DC Assault to a four-point victory over Deron Williams Elite, adding the Fab 48 title to last weekend’s championship in the Under Armour Summer Jam.

Trimble’s performance over the weekend, though, showed his value to be far more than symbolic. He will have a chance to be an important component of the Terps’ offense immediately, whether he’s converting to the point or following the Gordon model of success.

OK, so before we mentioned JaJuan Johnson in comparison with Kevon Looney. This time we really mean it.

Rabb bears so much of a resemblance to Johnson, the 2011 Big Ten player of the year at Purdue. Of course, Rabb is only going to be a high school junior and could grow his game in various directions, but for now he owns the area within six feet of the basket in any direction.

He is not a polished, finished offensive player with a variety of moves or a consistent face-up jump shot, but he does have a nice finishing touch around the goal and extraordinary athleticism to create opportunities for himself. He reads the offensive glass well and positions himself for tip-ins and rebounds.

What Rabb does best, however, is defend the basket. He looks a shade taller than his listed height. Perhaps that is because it’s so difficult to get off any sort of shot in his neighborhood. In the adidas Super 64 championship game, Seattle Rotary had to take to the perimeter—Washington State recruit Tramaine Isabell made four 3-pointers—to rally for a victory.

Rabb has great bounce, great timing and a quick second-jump. If he does nothing to improve his offense, he’ll be a terrific asset to a college program. But there’s too much potential there to imagine his development will stagnate here.